After all is said and done, the result we get from studying the science of Kabbalah comes from the Light that Reforms. It influences me, elucidating the whole picture of reality to me, and as a result I perceive the spiritual world as a picture that is presented in my desires.

My desires are a means of feeling, and in order to attune a person to the Light that Reforms, we study The Book of Zohar. During the study I search for a way to see the Giver through the picture that arises in me. I need to aspire to feel Him, the One who acts from within and forms the picture that I see. This picture stands between me and the Creator like a table filled with refreshments, but who is on the other side of me? Who is He, the One who forms this picture for me?

Therefore, everything that exists, this entire world and everything that I imagine while reading The Book of Zohar, becomes a means for me to reveal the Source. In that case I am really “studying the Torah.”

I demand the Light that Reforms, but why? It is in order to reveal the Source, the Creator, as it is written, “The purpose of the science of Kabbalah is to reveal the Creator to the creatures in this world.”

When we read Talmud Eser Sefirot, we also strive to reveal the Creator just like when we study The Zohar. We read about the same thing, but in a technical language rather than a literary one. In addition, we don’t read it through the heart, but through the mind. However, we do this with the same intention, which is to reveal the Creator.
[21566]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/20/10, The Zohar

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Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Wisdom of Kabbalah Does Not Speak of Our Corporeal World

The truth is that The Zohar does not speak of corporeal issues [that occur in man’s egoistic desires] at all, but rather of the Upper Worlds [felt in the altruistic desire], where there is no time line [actions] as in corporeality [egoistic world], and spiritual times are explained in transformations of forms and degrees; they are above place [egoistic desire] and time [the order of actions since cause and effect in the spiritual property of bestowal are opposite to their order in corporeality].
The Book of Zohar with the Sulam [Ladder] Commentary, Parashat VaYetze, Item 139

The wisdom of Kabbalah speaks only from the root of Assiya in spirituality and upward [that is, above our world. Hence, those who try to apply Kabbalah to our world are either ignoramuses or charlatans].
– Rabbi Nachman of Breslev, Collections of the Moharan, 225
[20994]

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Question: You said that when we read The Zohar we should try to recognize the force that is behind the story. Is it correct to imagine that some force is talking to me in a language that I do not understand and I am trying to understand this language like a child that hears others talking to him and learns the language this way?

Answer: No, that is incorrect. Through my corporeal mind and feelings I will never be able to recognize the picture behind which the Creator is situated. My only task during the studies is to awaken a special influence called “the Light that Reforms,” which will then build a new quality in me enabling me to feel the picture of a different world.

Right now I lack the quality that I need in order to see the Creator through the text of The Zohar. This quality has to form in me gradually, as a result of my effort. The Light influences me and builds an additional inner sense – the quality of bestowal. Then I begin to feel the Creator through this sense. No other efforts or goals will help when studying “holy” books (meaning books about the Upper World and the Creator). Therefore, all my efforts should be directed only at awakening the Surrounding Light.

The Creator can only be revealed if I am similar to Him by having the same qualities. He is completely Giving, while I lack the quality of bestowal, which is that sense through which I will reveal Him. I can acquire this sense only through the influence of the hidden Light that Reforms, because the Light creates the quality of bestowal in me. Then I will recognize the Creator.

Therefore, as we read The Book of Zohar, each of us should strive to awaken this Light to influence him.
[21561]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/20/10, The Zohar

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Question: Why do I need a group and unification?

Answer: The Creator cannot be felt other than inside the desire He created which becomes similar to Him in spite of its initial quality. What we call the Creator is not Him (Atzmuto – His essence), but our perception of Him through our similarity to Him.

Question cont.: How do I know that my perception of Him and He are the same thing?

Answer: We can feel only 1) matter and 2) the form of matter, but not 3) form outside of matter and 4) essence. Therefore, we can only talk about what is clothed in us and felt by us according to the principle, “I will know You from Your actions [upon me].”
[21581]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/20/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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As we read The Zohar, what is important to me? Is it to know the text in all its details or to get to know the Creator? After all, The Zohar talks about Him and His actions. Do I wish to know what’s written about the actions themselves or about where and from Whom these actions come?

There is a breaking point concealed here which leads either to success or failure, Light or darkness, revelation of the Creator or remembrance of the text, studying the Torah or attaining the One who gives the Torah. The goal is to reveal and get to know the Creator who is behind the text. He is precisely what is important to me, and that is why I think about how to reveal the force through the actions that are described here.

It is like I sit at the table with the Host, who has prepared the most exquisite dishes for me. However, I don’t even look at the dishes or pay attention to anything around me. It’s not that I neglect everything; I use it just in order to reveal Him and to obtain a connection with Him.

Why did I come to this table in the first place? I came for the sake of the Host, in order to meet Him, not for the food. Once I perform various actions in order to get to know Him, I am then allowed to take anything I want from the table, to taste it and enjoy it. I can do anything as long as He is important to me and everything else is just a means.

As we read The Zohar, we study the Creator’s actions, and the only purpose of doing so is to reveal Him. We should concentrate on what is behind the text and try to permeate through it. On the one hand, the book seems to confuse me. On the other hand, through my effort to penetrate through the text, I suddenly begin to see the Creator behind it. There is no other opportunity to reveal Him. There is no other connection to the Host.

I don’t understand Him because He is concealed behind the table. I can understand Him only by studying the dishes given to me. For example, I like sweets and He has prepared them for me. He created me to like sweets and He gave them to me. What does He desire by this? In addition, I don’t really like sour things, yet He gives me sour. Why? I need to reveal Him through myself.
[21569]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/20/10, The Zohar

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Rabash, Shlavei HaSulam, “Who Testifies for Man”
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The Book of Zohar – Selections, Chapter “VaYechi (And Jacob Lived in the Land of Egypt),” Item 366
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Rav Yehuda Ashlag, Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 6, Part 15, Item 100
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Shamati #96 “What is, Waste of Barn and Winery, in the Work”
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The spiritual world will become revealed only if you demand this revelation through the group during the study. You want to feel the Giver, the Basis, the single Root of everything. However, you should only desire this through the group, through bestowal, according to the law of equivalence of form when you are ready for it.

Even if you still don’t understand what you’re asking for, the Light gradually does its work. When you demand it, the Light acts more and more strongly until the spiritual sensation ignites inside you and becomes clearer.

Then you will see that the spiritual reality exists. The reason for the concealment is the lack of concentration and importance.
[21594]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/20/10, “The Greatness of a Person Depends on His Faith in the Future”

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Spiritual Simulator: Questions of the Day

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Sometimes the language of The Zohar appears to be very odd, but in fact the story behind it is extremely simple. There is my “neighbor” and “myself.” There is a distance between us that is divided into five parts. The most remote part is felt as “this world.” If I connect with my neighbor completely and attain total unity with him, I will sense the “World of Infinity.”

My drawing closer to my neighbor occurs in five steps: I ascend into the worlds of Assiya, then Yetzira, Beria, Atzilut, and Adam Kadmon. Five worlds with 25 steps in each make up 125 steps of us drawing closer together. Before starting this process, while I am still in this world, I have to fully realize that I am separated from my neighbor (the realization of evil).

I perceive myself and the world around me in the connection between me and my "neighbor." The Zohar speaks exclusively about what is happening between us: The still, vegetative, animate, and speaking levels of nature described in The Zohar, in fact, represent my desires of the still vegetative, animate, and speaking levels in relation to my neighbor (other souls).

The entire Torah speaks only about the ways of building the connection between me and my “neighbor.” It is what is called the “method of correction.”

The Torah is the Light concealed in the text, and I can derive it to the measure that I desire to unite with the other. The moment I connect with the other, I reveal the Upper World within this connection and exist in spirituality to the extent of this connection.
[21379]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/17/10, The Zohar

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